Helena Ark. February the 4th 1865 My Dearest Elizabeth yours of the 21 ult caim to hand yesterday evening it found me as this leaves me well and harty as I hope it may find you I do not realy know how long it has been since I have writen to you for I have been busy for a few days building a shanty to cook in as we have imploid a colerd woman to cook for us at 7 dollars a month to cook and wash for 7 of us she does mity well so far as to your farming I am not a farmer now probly if you will ask some one closer home you wont get beter information but as you asked me I will say that 2 or 3 acres of garden 2 or 3 in tobaco and 7 or 8 in corn will do very well that will be 12 acres and then weeds will be plenty dont scrach up the poorest land I will promis you if I live to help you house your tobaco if you and Martha have a patch let the pach all be in one patch and all work together as we do not expect lunch to be made but what is let it be for the good of all the family get som one to brake up your ground and not brake it up with your mare plant your corn in or about the 1st of May I beleave put 4 or 5 grains in a hill and hull all out but 2 George is geting along quite well in the way of learning you say that litle Alice is the pretiest childe I ever saw if she takes after her mother I have an Idier that she shurley is prety I do not wish you to think that I am insinuating on you; for I am clear of thinking otherwise than in complience with your remark about Alice only extending the compliment to her mother Well Lizzie Helena is very mudy now as the wether has been very soft for several days and so many horses in camp keeps the mud well sterd up the mail coms in nearly every day but very scatering so that there is no teling when a man will get a letter until it is handed to him the Central comes to me once a week do you get it from the press or from me dont make it the subject of your next letter but you may answer in few words Tel Eliza that I will get me a lot of fine paper and some day I will write to every body and tel them all I know and more two I will tel her and of you about the south and litle nigars and how the litle Black pups looks runing to scool with a slate under one arm and an atlass under the other and how the Brods do learn & how fine the look & how they strut & then Ile tel you how good I feel after fighting to free them an all this sort of thing and then I will tel you how som folks fret about it an how the cut up such as resist the draft build litle farts hold Chicago Conventions and how the spluter and snuff up there lips at a soldier and how litle a soldier feals slited at it; and how big they talk about braking the constitution about how the yankees ketch chickens & steel and how litle harm the rebles does; how they talk of southern rites and how inosent old Jeff Davis is and what a poore forsaken duplicated insignificant barbrious ignorant hag feather rail spliter old Lincoln is and worse that all luk elected for another term to be president of the U S of America ( by whome ) we the pepal of corse but you see the pepal is rong then if I did forget I will tell you how the soldiers talk not thos that goes home for you see them but those that never turns there back to the enemy then if you could here the soldiers talk of thoes white rag felows at home you shurly could not think much of them what a pity that some folks thinks that around some litle town as in some neighborhood is all the place in the world poor sily creaturs now you will get that letter in close proximity to the folowing programer and the prospections will be the main book its self the wind is blowing very hard from the North oh how cold you will have to cover up close tonight or you will freze sirtain so no more now only hoping that you may be well when this comes to hand I am as ever yours truly Direct to M" A" Hooker 87" Ills" Vols" Co" A" Helena, Ark. dont put it this way M. A. Hooker... thoes dots dont do well 87" Ills" Vols" Co "A" The candle is going out and if I was at home to night I could hug you all about and that a buley verse I am so shamed of it that I would tare it out if it did not make a hole in the paper M A Hooker Patrick J. Anderson http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=patanderson 9654 Baltimore Avenue, Laurel, Maryland 20723